Tosca di Angelo (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Around the same time (August) every year, I start the process of reviewing the list of restaurants I have dined in throughout the calendar year in hope of finding any glaring omissions. Among the obvious misses so far (Gaddi’s and Petrus to name a couple), one standout is Tosca di Angelo, a former favorite of mine which I haven't visited since 2019. I am talking about the pre-pandemic era. That's a long long time ago.

I decided to put an end to this by ringing up the restaurant to see if they have a table for me this afternoon and to my pleasant surprise, the reply was “Yes!”.

It was a fairly gorgeous day to dine at Tosca di Angelo. Very happy to report that there’s no rain and although the sun didn’t come out completely from behind the clouds, there were enough clear blue skies for me to use as the backdrop for my photos.

First up, a couple of refreshing nibbles to kick things off. On the right, tomato and ricotta cheese served on a crispy toast; accompanied by a mullet roe and cucumber tart on the left side.

A further amuse bouche was served in the form of a lobster jelly topped by celery cream, powder made with lobster coral and fresh chives. The jelly came with a little bit of lobster meat in the middle. A really refreshing dish very much like a gazpacho, which was just perfect for the summer.

Hokkaido hamachi, Tropea red onion velouté, Pachino tomato – The Hokkaido hamachi beautifully coated with a herb crust, was teamed up with an array of refreshing flavors from Tropea red onion, onion purée, organic Pachino tomato and capers. The love acidity of the dish really did the job for me in waking up my palate.

Some bread while I waited for my main dish to arrive.

Grouper, Matalotta soup, olive, tomato – I thought they made a mistake when they showed up with a grouper dish instead of my Iberico pork pluma.

Assistant restaurant manager Raymond who has been taking care of me since my arrival came over with one of the restaurant's signature dish, local red star grouper fish steamed in Matalotta soup with olives, tomatoes and capers from Salina. This beautifully presented dish was a bonus dish offered by Raymond and his culinary team and as he put it, a sort-of welcome dish to "receive" me back with open arms.

This was seriously tasty. The tomato-based broth did wonders to the mildly flavored grouper by bringing some lovely acidity to the fish (with olives and capers too). Very very thankful to the team for the extra dish.

Iberico pork pluma, carrot, leeks, black pepper – The main dish I actually ordered soon followed. I thought the Iberico pork was really succulent today but the supporting cast of baby carrots, carrot purée, leeks and orange dressing wasn't exactly the perfect match. Let's just say that they were good but definitely not great. But then, I was still over the moon with the previous grouper dish so.....

Traditional tiramisu, coffee, Amedei chocolate – Dessert was Tosca's signature tiramisu paired with its usual partner of coffee granita and they have added some Amedei chocolate tuiles for good measures.

As always, really really foamy.

I didn't remember the restaurant having a dessert trolley before. 

Unfortunately, I was a little full to take on more sweets than the hazelnut chocolate and strawberry jelly. 

I have always enjoyed coming back to Tosca but the service team here led by Mr. Raymond had really brought the experience to a whole new level this afternoon. Attentive, courteous and professional, their impeccable service truly shines through in their polished demeanor and genuine interest in ensuring that the diner (in this case, a solo diner) thoroughly relishes every aspect of this culinary journey. Of course make no mistake, the extra dish was a really nice gesture too.

Food Rating: 7.2/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 102/F The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon
Tel: +852 2263-2270
Website: www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/china/hong-kong/dining/tosca
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Sat), 11:30am - 3:00pm, 6:30pm - 10:30pm (Sun)